Éditeur : Routledge | Date & Lieu : 2004, New York |
Préface : | Pages : 256 |
Traduction : | ISBN : 0-203-57781-7 |
Langue : Anglais | Format : 152x258 mm |
Thème : Politique |
Présentation
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Table des Matières | Introduction | Identité | ||
TRAPPED BETWEEN THE MAP AND REALITY Many people assisted me in so many ways with the preparation of my doctoral thesis, and then with this book. I have acknowledged some of them or their comments in footnotes, although many more must remain unacknowledged. Many people informed my research, directed me, discussed ideas, discovered materials, and procured obscure documents, books, and maps. Others helped in more practical ways, such as with translations, organising travel or offering hospitality in Kurdistan. I owe a great deal to these people, and as some of them would wish to remain anonymous, I hope my many friends and helpers will be contented with the knowledge that I appreciate them and their assistance very much. In particular I have always been touched by generous hospitality in Kurdistan, when there were so many other pressing local concerns. What I have learned about courage, fortitude and acceptance from Kurdish people has been of great help in life these last few years. |
The events of the past decades have left little doubt about the role of the Kurdish people in shaping the complex history of the Middle East. Repeatedly and in various ways the Kurds, so often perceived as victims, have shown their capacity and readiness to be actors in matters that concern them. Their activities, perhaps together with the efforts of Western journalism and scholarship in the past decade, have undoubtedly had the effect of putting the Kurds ‘on the map’ as far as Western public opinion is concerned. But there, one might say, is the rub! A juxtaposition of the words ‘Kurd’ and ‘map’ is apt to remind one of the lack of a geographic definition of ‘Kurdistan’; of the fact that the Kurds are probably the largest ethnic group in the world without a state of its own; of the Allies’ off-hand treatment of Kurdish aspirations to nationhood in the years after the First World War, and of all the lamentable consequences that may be associated with this. Dr. O’Shea looks with clarity at the many factors that gave the Kurdish people the sense of identity that helped them withstand the trials and denials inflicted upon them over the past eighty years, but she also examines the many internal and external factors that make the practical realisation of this ideal so problematic. Philip G.Kreyenbroek |